Napier Crookenden
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Sir Napier Crookenden
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Lt. Col. Napier Crookenden (extreme right) with Gen Sir Bernard Montgomery
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| Born | 31 August 1915 |
| Died | 31 October 2002 (aged 87) |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ |
 British Army |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Unit | Cheshire Regiment |
| Commands held | 9th (Eastern and Home Counties) Parachute Battalion 16th Parachute Brigade Western Command |
| Battles/wars | Second World War Malayan Emergency |
| Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order Officer of the Order of the British Empire |
Lieutenant General Sir Napier Crookenden, KCB, DSO, OBE, DL (31 August 1915 – 31 October 2002) was a British Army General who reached high office in the 1960s.
Contents
Military career
Educated at Wellington College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst,[1] Crookenden was commissioned into the Cheshire Regiment in 1935.[2][3]
He served in the Second World War as a Brigade Major in the 6th Airlanding Brigade in 1943 planning and implementing glider assaults to secure bridges over the River Orne on the day of the Normandy Landings.[1] He served as Commanding Officer of 9th (Eastern and Home Counties) Parachute Battalion between 1944 and 1946[2] leading his Regiment in the Battle of the Bulge and then the crossing of the River Rhine.[1]
He was Director of Operations during the Malayan Emergency between 1952 and 1954 and served as Commander of 16th Parachute Brigade from 1960 to 1961.[2] He went to the Imperial Defence College in 1962.[2] He was appointed Director of Land/Air Warfare at the Ministry of Defence in 1964 and then Commandant at the Royal Military College of Science in Shrivenham in 1967.[2] He became the last General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Command in 1969 and retired in 1972.[2]
Retirement
In retirement he became a Deputy Lieutenant for Kent.[1] He was also a lecturer on military history on the P&O steamship SS Uganda.[1]
Family
In 1948 he married Patricia Nassau, daughter of Hugh Kindersley, 2nd Baron Kindersley, and they went on to have had two sons and two daughters.[1]
Notable works
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Bibliography
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References
External links
| Military offices | ||
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| Preceded by | GOC-in-C Western Command 1969–1972 |
Succeeded by Post Disbanded |
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- 1915 births
- 2002 deaths
- British Army generals
- Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
- Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
- Officers of the Order of the British Empire
- Cheshire Regiment officers
- Deputy Lieutenants of Kent
- People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire
- Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst
- British Parachute Regiment officers
- British Army personnel of the Malayan Emergency
- British Army personnel of World War II
